Blood Moon (11 page)

Blake didn’t feel like himself that evening when he grabbed his car keys and headed towards the door.
 
Dean met him in the hallway and asked where he was going.
 

“I’m going to Sally’s.”

“Who’s Sally? Don’t you think we should talk about what happened with Rowan?”

“Rowan who?”

“Rowan who? That’s funny,” Dean said, but as he looked at Blake’s face he continued, “You’re kidding right?”

“No. Why?”

“Rowan’s the girl you’re in love with – remember? The girl you came to Colorado for? By the way, who is Sally?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t know any Rowan. And as for Sally - wouldn’t you like to know?” Blake asked.

“No, not really.
 
Allison’s got all I need.
 
So is this some kind of game you’re playing? She hurt you so now you don’t know who she is? You’ve never ever mentioned a Sally before. How did you meet her?”

“Hmmmm. I don’t know?”

“When did you meet her? I haven’t even seen you leave the house since we’ve been here.”

“No idea. Gotta go. I’m late.” Off he went out the door, smiling like a doofus.
 

Dean went next door and pulled Devon aside.

“Have you spoken to Blake recently?” he asked.
 

“No, why?”

“He’s acting really weird.”

“How so?”

“He claims he has no idea who Rowan is and he’s off to see some woman named Sally. He says he doesn’t remember how they even met, but seems totally infatuated with her.”

“That is weird.
 
Where’d he go?”

“To go meet her, I think.”

“Huh?!
 
Darby?” Devon called into the hallway, “Could you come here for a minute?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Dean just had a very strange conversation with Blake.”

“Really? What about?”
 

“Seems he has no idea who Rowan is and he’s off to meet someone named Sally. And get this, he doesn’t remember where he met her, but he seems to be totally obsessed with her.”

“That’s pretty weird.
 
When would he have met someone? I haven’t seen him leave the house except with you two.”

“Could he be under some kind of spell?” Devon asked.

“It’s possible, I suppose, but maybe this is just his way of dealing with what happened. I mean he was pretty torn up about Rowan the other day. And besides us, who would be casting spells?” Darby answered.

“I don’t know!” Devon said and looked at Dean for some insight. Dean shrugged his shoulders. “Well, maybe we should just wait and see what happens when he gets home.”

Three days went by and there was no sign of Blake.
 
He wouldn’t return his calls, texts, or emails.
 
Darby, Devon, and Dean were starting to worry.
 
It wasn’t like him to just take off without returning a call.
 
Devon and Blake had always had a pact that they were to touch base with each other every 48 hours.
 
This had been a necessity when Paine was after them. Changing it now that Paine wasn’t in the picture had never come up and the pact was still in place as far as Devon knew.
 
Now, however, Devon was getting worried. He and Dean went looking for Blake.
 
They had driven up and down streets of neighboring towns and all through Oljone for over an hour before heading back to the house, only to find Blake’s car at Paddy’s just a couple of blocks away. Devon and Dean got out of the car to find Blake at the bar talking to Kyle.
 
Blake was sitting by himself, but the barstool next to him was pulled out and there was a glass of white wine on a napkin waiting for someone.
 

Devon walked up to Blake, nodding at Kyle as he put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Blake!” he said.
 

“Devon, what’s up?” Blake answered.

“We were going to ask you the same thing.”

“Yeah? Not much! Having a drink. Talking with Kyle. Waiting for Sally.”

“Sally’s here, then?”

“Yeah, why?” he asked possessively.

“It’s just you’ve never mentioned her before. You’ve been gone for three days and no one has heard a word from you.”

“What, are you my mother now?”

“No, I’m your brother and we had an agreement that we would check in every 48 hours.”
 

“Yeah, when Paine was around, but I took care of him so why do I need to check in? I’m not twelve.”

“No, you’re not, but you were not really acting like yourself when you left and we were all worried about you.”

“Geez, guys. Get a life.
 
I’ve been with Sally. Do I have to ask permission for that too?”

“Okay, fine. You’re right! Sorry! Mind if we join you for a beer? Love to meet this new someone!” Devon looked at Kyle and said, “Can we get two RedHooks?”

“We were just leaving anyway. She was just going to use the ladies’ room, so you can do whatever you want.”

“Great,” Devon said as Kyle set down two pints of beer.
 
They sat there for about ten minutes in silence, all three of them drinking their beers. Dean broke the silence with, “So what’s Sally like?”

Blake didn’t say anything. He took a swig of his beer and looked towards the ladies’ room and then at his watch.
 

Devon said, “Look, Blake, I didn’t mean to make you mad. I freaked a little when I hadn’t heard from you and I’m sorry.
 
You’re right, you don’t need to check in with me. We’d just done it for so long…well…I got worried. Let me buy you a beer and forget it.”

Blake saw the sincerity in his eyes and heard it in his thoughts. “Yeah. I guess,” he said, and then, “Do all girls take that long in the bathroom?”

“It seems a little excessive. Why don’t you go knock and see if she’s okay?” Devon said.

“Yeah, right! That’s not going to happen,” Blake answered.

Dean said, “I know. Kyle, is there a barmaid or another woman that works here that would go knock on the door? That way it would just seem like someone else wanted to use the bathroom.”

“Good thinking,” said Blake.

“Yeah,” Kyle said. “I’ll have Kate check.” Kyle left for a minute and came back with Kate right behind him.
 
Kyle headed back to the bar and Kate headed for the bathroom. The doors were out of sight from the bar, but when Kate came back down the hall, she shrugged her shoulders.
 
As she got closer to the bar, she said, “It’s empty. No one in there.”

“Nice. You guys probably scared her away,” Blake said, agitated.

“You really think that? We don’t even know her. Why would we be scary?”

“She’s met you before.
 
The night Dean met Allison.
 
She came in with Allison.”

“But the girl that came in with Allison wasn’t named Sally; it was Allys.”

“No, her name is Sally.
 
I’ve been with her for three days. I think I know her name.”

“Okay, maybe I was wrong,” Devon said, looking at Dean for help, but Dean wanted no part of the argument. “How about we finish our beers and head back to the house?”

Blake grumbled, “Nah, I think I’ll go try to find Sally. Maybe something is wrong – maybe she’s sick and she walked home.”

“If she were sick, wouldn’t she have just asked you to take her home, instead of walking? Why don’t you just call her?”

“I don’t have her number.”

“Well, why don’t you swing by her house?”

“Don’t know where she lives.”

“Where did you spend the last three days? Maybe she’s there.”

“Truthfully, I don’t remember where it was. I just remember it was dark and a little creepy. Not somewhere someone would live. It was almost like a crypt or tomb.”

“Yikes! What did you do there for three days?” Dean almost spit his beer as he said it.

Blake’s eyebrow went up and a smirk came over his face.

Dean and Devon looked at each other; even Kyle looked at him.
 
“Come on! In a crypt? For three days? Geez, Blake!
 
What were you thinking? I don’t care how good looking she is, that’s just weird,” Devon said.

“I hope you were careful,” Dean chimed in. Blake and Devon both looked at him. “What? That’s not a stupid thing to say?” Dean asked.

Fortunately, Kyle was in the back and no one else was in the bar when Devon said to Dean, “Vampires can’t get STD’s – it’s the whole healing thing. Viruses and... well, they cure themselves instantly.
 
That’s why we don’t get colds or the flu.”

“Oh! Werewolves heal fast too, but I’m still safe. Never hurts to be safe!” Dean said. Devon and Blake both chuckled and took another swig of beer as Kyle re-entered the bar.

Devon asked Blake, “So what do you know about this girl, aside from her first name and her preference for crypts? Do you know her last name? Maybe we could call information and get her phone number? How did you find her the last time?”

Blake had a blank look on his face. “I don’t know. I just drove there, like I knew where I was going. Almost as if she were calling me to her.” Dean and Devon looked at each other.

“But you can’t remember where it was? Geez, Blake, what if it had been Rowan that had found you with Sally?”

“Rowan who?”

“Rowan who? Darby’s sister! The girl you claimed you loved just a few days ago.”

“Darby has a sister? You’re joking, right? I’ll bet she’s hot. How come I haven’t met her?”

“You have, stupid. You helped save her life two months ago. You don’t remember anything about her?”

“No, why? Does she like me?”

“You’re coming home right now. Darby is going to fix this.” Devon grabbed his wallet and paid Kyle, took his glass, and downed the rest of the beer. He grabbed Blake by the arm, taking his keys, and looking at Dean. “Here are my keys; you take my car and I’m taking him in his and I’ll meet you back at the house.”

“What are you talking about?” Blake said. “I’ve got to find Sally.”

“As your brother, will you humor me? We’ll go back to the house for a few minutes; we’ll talk to Darby, and if after that you still want to go, we’ll let you go. Twenty minutes, tops. Maybe you can even meet Rowan.”

“All right, but this is stupid. Sally’s not going to like this at all,” Blake said.

Chapter 10

Devon got Blake into his house and asked him to sit on the couch.
 
He glanced at Dean as if to say,
Don’t let him out of your sight!
 

“
I’ll be right back; I’m going to go get Darby.”

Devon hopped the six foot fence in the backyard like it was a foot high and ran in the back door of Darby’s house, just about giving Harry a heart attack.
 
“Sorry, Harry,” he yelled as Harry tore around the corner, getting next to no traction on the hardwood floor. When traction finally was found, he took off like a shot, running across the hall and under the bed.
 

“Darby, Love, can I speak to you?”
 

She came walking down the hall to the kitchen.
 
“Yeah, Sweetie, what is it?”
 

“Grab the Book of Shadows; we have a problem.”
 

“Why, what’s wrong?” she asked as she went into the bedroom to grab the book and the chest on top of it. As she followed Devon next door, she asked again, “So what is it?”

As they walked up the steps of the porch he whispered, “It’s Blake. He’s definitely under some kind of spell or something.
 
See for yourself.” Devon opened the door for her.

She came into the front room smiling as she saw Blake sitting on the couch.
 
“Hi, Sweetie? How are you?”

“Good! I hear you have a sister! When do I get to meet her?”

Darby was surprised. “Ummm, as soon as we take care of something, okay?”

She thought to Devon –
Oh yeah, something is wrong all right! He doesn’t even know who Rowan is?

Devon answered,
No.